Rudraprayag wins overall championship

In State Schools Athletic & Cultural Meet the district stunned favourites:

P.S. Chauhan

Rudraprayag district team bagged the overall championship in the 10th state schools athletic and cultural meet held at the BHEL sports stadium at Haridwar. In the cultural events Udham Singh Nagar came out with flying colours, while in the P.T. Dehradun district won the laurels.

In the senior category (boys) of 200 meter race, Pawan Kumar of Pithoragarh finished first, while Gaurav of Sports College, Dehradun and Ankit of Pauri secured IInd and IIIrd positions, respectively. In javelin throw, Ashish Bisht of Dehradun scored the first rank, with Naveen Bhandari of Pauri and Tarun of Pithoragarh trailing at the next two positions. In the 200 meter race of the senior category (girls) Aarti of Rudraprayag clinched the top rank, followed by Monika of Almora and Laxmi of Rudraprayag at the IInd and the IIIrd slots, respectively. In javelin throw (women) Neha of Rudraprayag came first, with Kanchan Chaubey of Champawat at the IInd and Anita of Nainital at the IIIrd place. In 200 meter race of the Junior category (boys), Mukesh of Pithoragarh won the top laurel, with Mohit of the Sports College, Dehradun and Shalu Kumar, also from the same college, lagging behind at the IInd and the IIIrd ranks. In the girls category of the junior section, Gayatri of Almora stood first, with Neetu of Dehradun and Pooja of Rudraprayag at the IInd and the IIIrd positions.

Three-day event was inaugurated by Govind Singh Bisht, the state education minister. "The state government is trying its best to promote games and sports in the state," said the minister. The students enthralled the audience, as they took out impressive parade with their flags. The state minister for tourism and urban development, Madan Kaushik, who gave away trophy to the winner team and awards to the individual participants, said that though the students of the government schools did not have the facilities at par with those of the public schools, they had talents which they had demonstrated in the national and the international level meets. On the occasion the students from the different districts presented folk songs and dances of their districts to showcase the cultural traditions of their respective areas.